On the Borderline
by maluka
Summary: After a devastating event, Namine and her older brother move to Twilight Town to start over fresh. She meets a boy who is just about opposite in all she believes. But she never thought that he would challenge her to balance on her heart's own borderline.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: well... hi everyone. it's been a long time since i've decided to write a story. i'm sorry for those who are a fan of my other story _Behind Hidden Eyes _that i haven't updated in forever. i have lost inspiration for it. i read through it and in in my opinion, i find that my writing for that story sounds very childish to me. maybe i'm wrong, but that's me. I may update it i may not so it's on hiatus for now. other than that... i decided to start a new story! this idea's been swimming in my head for a while but i'm warning you right now... the updates will take a LONG time. i am an extremely slow planner and getting my ideas on paper is difficult for me so dont expect speedy updates. anyways, i hope you enjoy this story! R&R**

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><p><em>On the Borderline<em>

Chapter One

I was _not_ happy. I looked up at the house that was going to be my new home. The gray paint was chipping off in random areas along the front of the house and the mailbox looked as though someone had dented it with some sort of bat. _Mailbox baseball,_ I thought. I begged my older brother, Cloud to take me once because I wanted to see what made it so great. Let me tell you, there's nothing great about it. I will never understand what it is with boys and the idea that blowing up, lighting on fire, and destroying things of any sort is so entertaining to them.

"Naminé, stop staring at that mailbox and help me carry these boxes in!" Cloud said, annoyed. I sighed and took one of the three boxes he was carrying and began walking towards my new _home._ I walked up the three steps that led to the front porch and followed my brother into the house. Looking around, it surprised me that the interior was in much better shape than the exterior. The hallway had a wooden floor and the walls were rusty red in color.

Walking further into the house, there was a kitchen to the right with obsidian countertops and a decent refrigerator and dishwasher. Across from the kitchen was the family room. It also had the same colored walls as the hallway and the carpet was beige. On the far wall, there was a fireplace with a mantle built above it where photos of our family will most likely be placed.

I walked further down the hall and followed Cloud up the stairs to where my and his bedrooms were.

"Cloud, which room is mine?" I asked.

"It's around the corner and to the right," he said, pointing his finger. Nodding, I followed the direction he had indicated and opened the door and let out a small gasp. My room was already furnished with my belongings; the queen-sized bed was up against the left wall with my dark blue comforter and mint green pillows and my closet on the right. Three of the walls were a pale blue and the last wall was white. What caught my attention most were the double, glass-paned doors that led to a small balcony that overlooked the petite backyard.

Walking towards the doors, I opened them and stepped out onto the small balcony. It was fashioned of dark wood and a tall tree that was excellent for climbing grew off to my right. _At least I have an escape route if I ever needed to get away,_ I thought.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Cloud walking over to join me. "I thought you would like this room," he spoke. "I know you like painting murals so I painted one of the walls white so that you could do whatever you wanted with it."

Smiling, I hugged my older brother tightly, "Thank you, Cloud."

"No problem," he smiled, hugging me back. Since our parents died in a car accident two months ago, Cloud was the only family I had since both our parents were the only child of each set of our grandparents. Cloud had just graduated from college and was planning on traveling, but then our parents were killed. Even though we were both devastated by our parents' death, I could tell he was hurting a small bit since his traveling would be postponed. But he would rather stay with me forever than travel and leave me alone with strangers. He's the best older brother you could ask for. He now works at an auto repair shop and makes deliveries on the side with good pay coming in from both jobs.

I sighed, _no good in thinking about that right now, Naminé._ The hurt has gotten better with time; but the pain of losing someone will never go away. I placed the box on my bed and lied down next to it staring at the ceiling. In all honesty, moving was not fun. I didn't want to leave my home back in Destiny Islands and trade it for this one here; in Twilight Town. But, at the same time, I did.

Destiny Islands is small enough to where everybody knows everyone and everything about their personal business; including the recently orphaned Strife kids. Friends, neighbors, and even the mail-man would only look at, no _stare_ at us with expressions of pity and sympathy. There was no empathy among those 'looks,' and that was what we needed the most. It got to the point where Cloud couldn't handle another _"I am so sorry that happened,"_ _"It must be terrible,"_ and his favorite, _"If you want to talk to someone, just give me/him/her a call"_ that he decided it would be best for the both of us if we left and got a new start somewhere else where no one would know our pasts and give us looks full of sympathy. I agree whole-heartedly with my older brother. I _hated _getting those looks and stares from everyone. I mean, we have close friends back home on the Islands, but they changed once we became the 'charity cases.' Cloud and I didn't want to have to go through everyday facing the people we know and love to only see them look at us with pity.

I sat up and began to unpack the box that was sitting right next to me. Opening the lid, I stared at the contents before slowly pulling them out. The first object was a glass jar a of sea shells. My mom and I scavenged for these when I was eleven years old when our family went to the beach on the other side of the island. It was our favorite beach, my family's. It was _our _beach. No one else ever went there and it became my, Cloud's, and our parents, special place. We went every weekend, but that all changed after the accident.

I placed my jar of shells on the nightstand next to my bed and pulled out the next object. It was a picture of our family a week before the car accident. It was the last photo of us ever taken as an entire family. It was taken before sunset at our beach by a family friend.

I was on Cloud's back, my arms wrapped loosely around his neck and his arms supporting my legs. It may seem childish for a seventeen year old girl to be on the back of her twenty-three year old brother but that's what Cloud and I are like when we are together; childish. Standing a head taller next to Cloud ruffling his already spiky hair, was Dad. Cloud's the spitting image of him, except for the fact that Dad had a darker shade of hair that's not as spiky and his eyes were green. Tucked into his side was our mom. Her blonde was hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her warm, smiling blue eyes.

I take after my mom; from her small and petite frame, to her blonde hair. Cloud and I were both blessed with her blue eyes and she always told us that if she was proud of anything that was passed down from her to us, it was the fact that we got her eyes. In our last physical evidence as a family, we all had grins painted across our faces. Now, two of them are gone forever and the other two may never come back full force.

Placing the frame with my family's photo in it on the nightstand next to my bed, I pulled out the last object and tossed the now empty box to the side. It was a stuffed animal. A bottle-nosed dolphin named Diego to be precise. Cloud got me Diego when we went to Sea World last year for 'brother-sister bonding' as Mom would have said. For Cloud and me, Sea World is our place because we both believe that it is way better than Disney World and because we both love dolphins (even if he won't admit it).

I lied down on my bed, hugging Diego tightly to my chest. Three simple objects brought so much love to me, but one also brought hurt. One, which could only be looked at now where time will remain frozen.

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><p><strong>an: well, what'd you think? i hope that those who read it enjoyed and if you did, there's a little button that says 'review' so if you want, i would like to here your opinions and any feedback you have to offer. thanks again**

**maluka **


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: hey guys. I hope you liked the first chapter. Thanks to those who added me to their favorites and alerts… but only one review so thank you **_**Chesire. **_**Oh and I'm sorry if she **

**sounded like she wasn't affected by their deaths, she was. People grieve in different ways and in different stages. Basically, she is in her '**_**I don't want to show any emotion to anyone.' Hope that cleared it up for you. **_** Anyways I present the next chapter to you! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is associatied with Kingdom Hearts, they are in the ownership of Square Enix, Disney, and Nomura. I only own the plot.**

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><p><em>On the Borderline<em>

Chapter two

The next morning, I was stirred awake from a light, tickling sensation that glided across my neck. I tried swatting it away but the result I received was a small snicker. I groggily opened my eyes and saw Cloud leaning over me, dangling a feather that must have come loose from my pillow.

"Cloud…" I groaned, "What the hell do you want?"

Laughing at my feeble attempt of trying to swat the feather away, he answered, "Nothing, I just wanted to take it upon myself to wake you up in one of the most annoying ways possible."

"Well, congratulations, you succeeded," I yawned while sitting up and stretching.

Cloud tossed the feather aside and looked at me with his trade mark mask of seriousness. "Naminé, I have to make a few deliveries today and it will take up most of the day so you're on your own. Think you can handle that?"

Rolling my eyes playfully, I responded, "No, Cloud I couldn't _possibly_ handle being separated from you for a whole day."

My brother laughed at this, causing a grin to spread across my face. "Good to know. I suggest you just go and check out the town and see if you can find anything worthwhile. School doesn't start for another few weeks. I'll see you later tonight." Ruffling my hair, my brother got up and left to start his long day of making deliveries.

Not long after, I heard the rev of an engine from his motorbike, Fenrir. I dragged myself out of bed and towards my closet so I could start my day. I grabbed a pair of ripped and paint-stained jeans and a white tank and headed to my bathroom to change.

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><p>Twilight Town was definitely different from the Islands. It was small and the buildings were all crammed against each other running on either side of the cobblestone street. There was also a town square that most likely held public events whenever the need arose. I admit Twilight Town was a very appealing place to me. But what really stood out to me was how we seemed to be stuck in a never-ending twilight until night rolled in.<p>

I decided to explore the park and headed north towards the gates that marked the entrance of the sea of green and trees. It was very beautiful; a small pond with lily pads and a few ducks here and there, a few willow trees hiding what lay underneath them, and many different species of flowers that littered the sides of the paved path.

Still on the trail, I noticed that it began to incline and was climbing up a hill. When I reached the top, I was surprised at what lay before me. I was facing west and looking down on all of Twilight Town. It was a beautiful sight.

_I bet it's even more gorgeous when the sun sets, _I thought. I decided that I would come back later tonight to sketch Twilight Town so I could capture my first sunset here. Turning around to head back down the hill, I spotted a stone sign I hadn't noticed before. Leaning down to read the inscription, I smiled to myself at what it said; _Sunset Hill. _

_Of course._

I headed back down and decided to take the path that swerved right instead of the left one I originally used to reach Sunset Hill. It led through the willow trees, and followed the shape of the small pond. I was about to turn around to head back to the entrance of the park so I could head home when I heard someone yell.

"Watch out!"

Before I could register that the voice was yelling at me, I felt a huge impact hit my back and I was sent sprawling to the ground, causing me to let out a groan.

I sat up and lifted my hand to touch my head. Opening my eyes, I noticed a skateboard flipped upside down, wheels still spinning, and to the left of it, a person sprawled in the grass groaning.

I gasped, "Oh my god! Are you okay?" I quickly crawled over to him to and touched his shoulder to let them know I was there.

In response, the body lifted itself up onto its hands and knees, a black hood pulled of their head. "Does it look like I'm okay? If you weren't standing in the middle of the damn sidewalk oblivious, this could've been avoided!"

My mouth hung open. Besides the masculine voice giving him away, it was definitely a boy. No girl would ever be that rude if someone was asking them a simple question of concern.

The boy turned around and flipped his hood off his head so that he could look me in the eye. I was surprised at what I saw. He had spiky blond hair, similar to Cloud's but it looked more windswept and was a shade darker. He also looked as though he spent most of his time outside from the golden brown color of his face. But what really caught my attention were his eyes. They were a startling blue. They looked as though they were a raging ocean, waves battling each other for dominance. Overall, he was an incredibly handsome boy who looked around my age.

Then, something else caught my eye. I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't for his sweatshirt being only zipped halfway up and the sun reflecting off the object. He was wearing a necklace; it was a black leather cord and hanging from it just a little below his collarbone, was a jade stone carved in the shape of some sort of hook. It looked so strange, especially around the neck of a boy no less.

Shaking my head to clear it, I glared right back him, "Well _sorry _for caring about your well being. And it wasn't my fault! You were a little late on warning me so I didn't have any time to react! So don't blame me, you're the one that should apologize!"

The spiky haired boy rolled his ocean blue eyes, "Whatever. Look, I'm sorry okay? Happy now?"

"No," I huffed, "you don't even mean it."

"Whatever. I'm already late for my meeting and you stupidly standing in the middle of the sidewalk causing me to crash into you isn't helping." He jumped to his feet, brushed his pants off, and then grabbed his skateboard.

Turning around, he smirked at me, "by the way, nice jeans. Later, Splatter Paint." With that, he took a small running start, dropped his board and rode off.

I let out small squeal, "SPLATTER PAINT? Screw you, asshole!" I stood up and watching his back, I flipped him off. As if he could sense my finger insulting him, he lifted his own finger and returned the gesture without so much as turning around.

That made me even more furious.

I got to my feet and headed in the opposite direction towards the exit and back towards home.

_SPLATTER PAINT? Really? _Oh, he has no idea what he just got himself into.

Asshole.

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><p><strong>an: well? did you guys like it? i know it's short but i just needed to get this posted so i wouldn't get a writers block. just to let you know, this isn't one of those stories where they fall in love instantly. it's gonna be a slow buildup. hope you guys enjoyed it! review please!**

**maluka**


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